Peter Klass “Breakfast with ham” 1647 g

Experts say that each still life has its own hidden meaning, which was understandable to contemporaries. And we can only guess about what the artist wanted to say and to whom.

G Dutch still life painting of the 17th century is characterized by the narrow specialization of Dutch masters within the genre. The theme “Flowers and Fruits” usually includes a variety of insects. “Hunting trophies” are, first of all, hunting trophies - killed birds and game. “Breakfasts” and “Desserts”, as well as images of fish - alive and asleep, various birds - are just some of the most famous topics still lifes.

Taken together, these individual plots characterize the keen interest of the Dutch in the plots Everyday life, and their favorite activities, and passion for the exoticism of distant lands (the compositions contain outlandish shells and fruits). Often in works with motifs of “living” and “dead” nature there is a symbolic subtext that is easily understandable to an educated viewer of the 17th century.

Thus, the combination of individual objects could serve as a hint of the frailty of earthly existence: fading roses, an incense burner, a candle, a clock; or associated with habits condemned by morality: splinters, smoking pipes; or indicated a love affair; letter, musical instruments, fryer There is no doubt that the meaning of these compositions is much broader than their symbolic content.

Dutch still lifes attract, first of all, their artistic expression, completeness, the ability to reveal the spiritual life of the objective world.

Unlike the Flemings, who prefer large-sized paintings with an abundance of all kinds of objects, Dutch painters limit themselves to a few objects of contemplation, striving for the utmost compositional and color unity. Still life (“Stilleven” - which means “quiet life” in Dutch) is a unique and quite popular branch Dutch painting.

Dutch still life from the 17th century

Peter Klass “Pipe and Brazier” 1636

Balthasar van der Ast "Still Life with Fruit"

Balthasar van der Ast “Plate with fruits and shells” 1630 g

Melchior de Hondecoeter "Birds in the Park"

Bartholomeus van der Hels "New Market in Amsterdam" 1666

Willem claes Hedp “Breakfast with crab” 1648

Ferdinand Bol "Dead Game"

Abraham Minion "Fruits"

Melchior de Hondecoeter "Hunting Trophies"

Johannes Lemans "Hunting still life"

Martin Bullema de Stomme. "Still Life with a Nautilus Cup"

Willem Heda. "Still life with ham." 1656

Jan Brueghel the Elder. "Flowers in a wooden flowerpot." 1606/07

Ambrosius Bosshart the Elder. "Bouquet of flowers in a niche." 1618 g

Balthasar van der Ast. "Basket of flowers". 1622

Hans Bollongier. "Flower still life." 1639

Nicholas Gillies. "Lay table" 1611

Floris van Dyck. "Still life with cheese." OK. 1615

Jacob van Hulsdonck. "Still life with artichokes, radishes, asparagus, plums and peaches in a basket." 1608-1647

Clara Peters. "Served table" 1611

Willem Claes Heda. "Still life with a silver jug ​​and a pie." 1645

Peter Claes. "Still life with salt shaker." OK. 1644

Gerrit Willems Heda. "Still life with a clay jug"

Floris Gerrits van Schoten. "Still Life with Fruits, Vegetables and the Emmaus Supper Scene." 1630

Cornelis Delff. "Kitchen still life." 1610-1620

Despite the fact that the name of the genre translated from French means “dead nature”. Why, in the mouths of the Dutch, did compositions of inanimate objects, colorfully displayed on canvas, signify life? Yes, these images were so bright, reliable and expressive that even the most inexperienced connoisseurs admired the realism and tangibility of the details. But it's not only that.

Dutch still life is an attempt to talk about how alive and closely every object is, every particle of this world is woven into complex world person and participates in it. Dutch masters created ingenious compositions and were able to so accurately depict the shape, color tints, volume and texture of objects that they seemed to store the dynamics of human actions. Here is a pen that has not yet cooled down from the poet’s hand with a glittering drop of ink, here is a cut pomegranate, dripping with ruby ​​juice, and here is a loaf bitten and thrown onto a crumpled napkin... And at the same time, this is an invitation to enchantedly admire and enjoy the splendor and diversity of nature.

Themes and picturesque images

Dutch still life is inexhaustible in its abundance of themes. Some painters were united in their passion for flowers and fruits, others specialized in the rough verisimilitude of pieces of meat and fish, others lovingly created on canvas kitchen utensils, and the fourth devoted themselves to the topic of science and art.

Dutch still life from the early 17th century is distinguished by its commitment to symbolism. Objects have a strictly defined place and meaning. The apple in the center of the image tells the story of the fall of the first man, while the bunch of grapes covering it tells the story of the atoning sacrifice of Christ. An empty shell, which once served as a home for a sea mollusk, speaks of the frailty of life, drooping and dried flowers - of death, and a butterfly fluttering out of a cocoon heralds resurrection and renewal. Balthasar Ast writes in this manner.

Artists of the new generation have already proposed a slightly different Dutch still life. Painting “breathes” with the elusive charm hidden in ordinary things. A half-filled glass, serving items scattered on the table, fruits, a cut pie - the authenticity of the details is perfectly conveyed by color, light, shadows, highlights and reflections, convincingly associated with the texture of fabric, silver, glass and food. These are the paintings of Pieter Claes Heda.

By the early 18th century, Dutch still life gravitated toward an impressive aesthetic of detail. Elegant porcelain bowls with gilding, goblets made of intricately curled shells, and fruits exquisitely arranged on a dish reign here. It is impossible to look at the canvases of Willem Kalf or Abraham van Beyeren without fading. Dutch is becoming unusually widespread, captured by the hand of a master, speaking in a special, sensual language and communicating painting harmony and rhythm. The lines, weaves and shades of stems, buds, open inflorescences present in the still life seem to create a complex symphony, forcing the viewer not only to admire, but also to excitedly experience the incomprehensible beauty of the world.

An amazing phenomenon in the history of world fine art took place in Northern Europe in the 17th century. It is known as the Dutch still life and is considered one of the pinnacles of oil painting.

Connoisseurs and professionals have a firm belief that so many magnificent masters who possessed the highest technology and created so many world-class masterpieces, while living on a small patch of the European continent, have never been seen in the history of art.

New meaning of the artist's profession

The particular importance that the profession of an artist acquired in Holland from the beginning of the 17th century was the result of the emergence, after the first anti-feudal revolutions, of the beginnings of a new bourgeois system, the formation of a class of urban burghers and wealthy peasants. For painters, these were potential customers who shaped the fashion for works of art, making Dutch still life a sought-after product in the emerging market.

In the northern lands of the Netherlands, reformist movements of Christianity, which arose in the struggle against Catholicism, became the most influential ideology. This circumstance, among others, made the Dutch still life the main genre for entire art guilds. The spiritual leaders of Protestantism, in particular the Calvinists, denied the soul-saving significance of sculpture and painting on religious subjects, they even expelled music from the church, which forced painters to look for new subjects.

In neighboring Flanders, which remained under Catholic influence, art developed according to different laws, but the territorial proximity caused inevitable mutual influence. Scientists - art historians - find a lot that unites Dutch and Flemish still life, noting their inherent fundamental differences and unique features.

Early floral still life

The “pure” genre of still life, which appeared in the 17th century, takes on special forms in Holland and symbolic name“quiet life” - stilleven. In many ways, Dutch still life was a reflection of the vigorous activity of the East India Company, which brought luxury goods from the East that had not been seen in Europe before. From Persia the company brought the first tulips, which later became a symbol of Holland, and it was the flowers depicted in the paintings that became the most popular decoration of residential buildings, numerous offices, shops and banks.

The purpose of masterfully painted floral arrangements was varied. Decorating homes and offices, they emphasized the well-being of their owners, and for sellers of flower seedlings and tulip bulbs, they were what is now called a visual advertising product: posters and booklets. Therefore, the Dutch still life with flowers is, first of all, a botanically accurate depiction of flowers and fruits, at the same time filled with many symbols and allegories. These are the best paintings of entire workshops, headed by Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder, Jacob de Geyn the Younger, Jan Baptist van Fornenburg, Jacob Wouters Vosmar and others.

Set tables and breakfasts

Painting in Holland in the 17th century could not escape the influence of new public relations, and economic development. Dutch still life painting of the 17th century was a profitable commodity, and large workshops were organized to “produce” paintings. In addition to the painters, among whom strict specialization and division of labor appeared, those who prepared the base for the paintings - boards or canvas, primed them, made frames, etc. worked there. Fierce competition, as with any market relations, led to an increase in the quality of still lifes to a very high level.

The genre specialization of artists also took on a geographical character. Floral compositions were painted in many Dutch cities - Utrecht, Delft, The Hague, but it was Haarlem that became the center for the development of still lifes depicting served tables, food and ready meals. Such paintings can be varied in scale and character, from complex and multi-subject to laconic. “Breakfasts” appeared - still lifes by Dutch artists depicting different stages of a meal. They depict the presence of a person in the form of crumbs, bitten buns, etc. They told interesting stories, filled with allusions and moralizing symbols common to paintings of that time. The paintings of Nicholas Gillies, Floris Gerrits van Schoten, Clara Peters, Hans Van Essen, Roelof Coots and others are considered particularly significant.

Tonal still life. Pieter Claes and Willem Claes Heda

For contemporaries, the symbols that filled the traditional Dutch still life were relevant and understandable. The contents of the paintings were similar to multi-page books and were especially valued for this. But there is a concept that is no less impressive to both modern connoisseurs and art lovers. It is called a “tonal still life”, and the main thing in it is the highest technical skill, amazingly refined color, amazing skill in conveying the subtle nuances of lighting.

These qualities are fully consistent with the paintings of two leading masters, whose paintings are considered among the best examples of tonal still life: Pieter Claes and Willem Claes Heed. They chose compositions from a small number of objects, devoid of bright colors and special decorativeness, which did not prevent them from creating things of amazing beauty and expressiveness, the value of which does not decrease over time.

Vanity

The theme of the frailty of life, the equality before death of both the king and the beggar, was very popular in the literature and philosophy of that transitional time. And in painting it found expression in paintings depicting scenes in which the main element was the skull. This genre is called vanitas - from Latin “vanity of vanities”. The popularity of still lifes, similar to philosophical treatises, was facilitated by the development of science and education, the center of which was the university in Leiden, famous throughout Europe.

Vanitas occupies a serious place in the works of many Dutch masters of that time: Jacob de Gein the Younger, David Gein, Harmen Steenwijk and others. The best examples of “vanitas” are not simple horror stories, they do not evoke unconscious horror, but calm and wise contemplation, filled with thoughts about the most important issues being.

Trick paintings

Paintings are the most popular decoration of the Dutch interior since the late Middle Ages, which the growing population of cities could afford. To interest buyers, artists resorted to various tricks. If their skill allowed, they created “trompe l’oeil”, or “trompe l’oeil”, from the French trompe-l'oeil - an optical illusion. The point was that a typical Dutch still life - flowers and fruits, dead birds and fish, or objects related to science - books, optical instruments, etc. - contained a complete illusion of reality. A book that has moved out of the space of the picture and is about to fall, a fly that has landed on a vase that you want to slam - typical subjects for a decoy painting.

Paintings by leading masters of still life in the trompe l'oeil style - Gerard Dou, Samuel van Hoogstraten and others - often depict a niche recessed into the wall with shelves on which there is a mass of various things. The artist's technical skill in conveying textures and surfaces, light and shadow was so great that the hand itself reached for a book or glass.

Heyday and sunset time

TO mid-17th century century, the main varieties of still life in the paintings of Dutch masters reach their highest peak. “Luxurious” still life is becoming popular, because the welfare of the burghers is growing and rich dishes, precious fabrics and food abundance do not look alien in the interior of a city house or a rich rural estate.

The paintings increase in size, they amaze with the number of different textures. At the same time, the authors are looking for ways to increase entertainment for the viewer. To achieve this, the traditional Dutch still life - with fruits and flowers, hunting trophies and dishes of various materials - is complemented by exotic insects or small animals and birds. In addition to creating the usual allegorical associations, the artist often introduced them simply for the sake of positive emotions, to increase the commercial appeal of the plot.

The masters of “luxurious still life” - Jan van Huysum, Jan Davids de Heem, Francois Reichals, Willem Kalf - became the harbingers of the coming time, when increased decorativeness and the creation of an impressive impression became important.

End of the golden age

Priorities and fashion changed, the influence of religious dogmas on the choice of subjects for painters gradually became a thing of the past, and the very concept of the golden age that Dutch painting knew became a thing of the past. Still lifes entered the history of this era as one of the most important and impressive pages.

Using the example of the painting “Breakfast with Ham” by Pieter Claes, let’s talk about a Dutch still life.
It shows a table covered with a white tablecloth. In the center of the still life is a dish with pink ham. The ham has a freshly cut edge. A knife with a beautiful carved handle lies nearby on the same dish. To the right of the dish you can see an olive branch with peaches on it. Black dots can be seen on the surface of the fruit. These are worm tracks. To the left of the dish is a glass of wine. Light reflections on the walls of a glass glass enliven the image. Next to the glass is a copper jug ​​with an open lid. The grape branch, depicted next to the glass and jug, seems to encircle both vessels. On the edge of the table, the artist depicted a metal plate with bread, the golden crust of which attracts the eye. Walnuts are scattered on the white tablecloth, some of which are already cracked. The apparent disorder suggests a sense of recent human presence.

With amazing skill, the artist conveys the color of each object. A restrained grayish-golden olive tonal palette unifies the pieces. Each of the objects is located so that the viewer can perceive its texture, volume, and smallest details. The artist perfectly conveys the texture of each object: the velvety of peaches, the matte-moist surface of grapes, the transparency of glass, the juiciness of ham. The rounded contours of the dishes, glasses and vessels intersect, and their smooth rhythm conveys harmony and integrity. When looking at the picture, there is a feeling of unstable balance. The plate of bread is about to fall. The compositional center is undoubtedly the dish with ham. This is the brightest spot in the picture. The artist depicts this subject realistically. The tablecloth does not completely cover the entire table. Where the tablecloth does not reach, a simple wooden table is visible, without any embellishment. Using color contrast, the artist exposes reality.

Natalia MARKOVA,
Head of the Graphics Department of the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts. A, S, Pushkin

Still life in 17th century Holland

We can say that time acted like a camera lens: with a change in focal length, the scale of the image changed until only objects remained in the frame, and the interior and figures were pushed out of the picture. “Still life frames” can be found in many paintings Dutch artists XVI century It is easy to represent it in the form independent painting set table from the Family Portrait by Martin van Heemskerck (c. 1530. State museums

, Kassel) or a vase with flowers from the composition of Jan Brueghel the Elder. Jan Brueghel himself did something like this, writing at the very beginning of the 17th century. the first independent flower still lifes. They appeared around 1600 - this time is considered to be the date of birth of the genre.

Martin van Heemskerk. Family portrait. Fragment. OK. 1530. State Museums, Kassel. At that moment O there was no wa to define it yet. The term “still life” originated in France in the 18th century. and literally translated means “dead nature”, “dead nature” (nature morte). In Holland, paintings depicting objects were called “stilleven,” which can be translated both as “still nature, model,” and as “quiet life,” which much more accurately conveys the specifics of Dutch still life. But this came into use only from 1650, and before that time the paintings were called according to the subject of the image: b lumentopf - a vase with flowers, banketje - a set table, fruytage - fruits, toebackje - still lifes with smoking accessories, doodshoofd - paintings with a skull. Already from this listing it is clear how great the variety of objects depicted was.

Indeed, the entire objective world around them seemed to spill out onto the paintings of the Dutch artists.

Abraham van Beuren. Still life with lobsters. XVII century. Kunsthaus, Zurich In art, this meant a revolution no less than that which the Dutch made in the economic and social sphere, having won independence from the power of Catholic Spain and creating the first Democratic state

. While their contemporaries in Italy, France, and Spain were focused on creating huge religious compositions for church altars, paintings and frescoes on subjects of ancient mythology for palace halls, the Dutch painted small paintings with views of corners of their native landscape, dances at a village festival or a home concert in a burgher's house, scenes in a rural tavern, on the street or in a meeting house, laid tables with breakfast or dessert, that is, a “low” nature, unpretentious, not overshadowed by the ancient or Renaissance poetic tradition, except perhaps contemporary Dutch poetry. The contrast with the rest of Europe was stark. Paintings were rarely created to order, but were mostly freely sold in markets for everyone and were intended to decorate rooms in the houses of city residents, and even of richer villagers. Later, in the 18th and XIX centuries , when life in Holland became more difficult and scarce, these home painting collections were widely sold at auction and eagerly purchased for royal and aristocratic collections throughout Europe, from where they eventually migrated to largest museums peace. When in mid-19th

V. artists everywhere turned to depicting the reality around them, paintings by Dutch masters of the 17th century. served as a model for them in all genres. Jan Venix. Still life with a white peacock. 1692.

A feature of Dutch painting was the specialization of artists by genre. Within the still life genre, there was even a division into separate themes, and different cities had their own favorite types of still life, and if a painter happened to move to another city, he often dramatically changed his art and began to paint those varieties of the genre that were popular in that place.

Haarlem became the birthplace of characteristic appearance Dutch still life - “breakfast”. The paintings of Peter Claes depict a laid table with dishes and dishes. A tin plate, a herring or ham, a bun, a glass of wine, a crumpled napkin, a lemon or a branch of grapes, cutlery - the meager and precise selection of items creates the impression of a table set for one person. The presence of a person is indicated by the “picturesque” disorder introduced into the arrangement of things, and the atmosphere of a cozy residential interior, achieved by the transmission of a light-air environment. The dominant gray-brownish tone unites objects into a single picture, while the still life itself becomes a reflection of a person’s individual tastes and lifestyle.

Another Haarlem resident, Willem Heda, worked in the same vein as Klas. The coloring of his paintings is still to a greater extent subordinated to tonal unity, it is dominated by a gray-silver tone, set by the image of silver or pewter utensils. For this colorful restraint, the paintings began to be called “monochrome breakfasts.”

Abraham van Beuren. Breakfast. 17th century

Pushkin Museum im. Pushkin, Moscow

In The Hague, the center of marine fishing, Pieter de Putter and his student Abraham van Beyeren perfected the depiction of fish and other sea inhabitants; the color of their paintings shimmers with the brilliance of scales, in which spots of pink, red, and blue colors flash.

The University of Leiden created and improved the type of philosophical still life "vanitas" (vanity of vanities). In the paintings of Harmen van Steenwijk and Jan Davids de Heem, objects embodying earthly glory and wealth (armor, books, attributes of art, precious utensils) or sensual pleasures (flowers, fruits) are juxtaposed with a skull or an hourglass as a reminder of the transience of life. A more democratic “kitchen” still life arose in Rotterdam in the works of Floris van Schoten and Francois Reykhals, and his best achievements are associated with the names of the brothers Cornelis and Herman Saftleven.

In the middle of the century, the theme of modest “breakfasts” was transformed in the works of Willem van Aalst, Jurian van Streck and especially Willem Kalf and Abraham van Beyeren into luxurious “banquets” and “desserts”. Gilded goblets, Chinese porcelain and Delft faience, carpet tablecloth, southern fruits emphasize the taste for grace and wealth that established itself in Dutch society in the middle of the century. Accordingly, “monochrome” breakfasts are being replaced by a juicy, colorfully rich, golden-warm flavor. The influence of Rembrandt's chiaroscuro makes the colors in Kalf's paintings glow from within, poeticizing the objective world.

Willem Kalf. Still life with a nautilus cup and a Chinese porcelain bowl. Thyssen Museum - Bornemisza, Madrid The masters of depicting “hunting trophies” and “poultry yards” were Jan-Baptiste Wenix, his son Jan Wenix and Melchior de Hondecoeter. This type of still life became especially widespread in the second half - the end of the century in connection with the aristocracy of the burghers: the establishment of estates and the entertainment of hunting. Painting two latest artists

shows an increase in decorativeness, color, and the desire for external effects. The amazing ability of Dutch painters to convey the material world in all its richness and diversity was appreciated not only by contemporaries, but also by Europeans in the 18th and 19th centuries; they saw in still lifes, first of all and only this brilliant mastery of conveying reality. these pictures were full of meaning, they offered food not only for the eyes, but also for the mind. The paintings entered into a dialogue with the audience, telling them important moral truths, reminding them of the deceitfulness of earthly joys, the futility of human aspirations, directing thoughts to philosophical reflections on the meaning of human life.